


Slotting Puzzles

by Foreverlarrup



Series: Slotting Puzzles [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-24
Updated: 2012-08-24
Packaged: 2017-11-12 19:58:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/495103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foreverlarrup/pseuds/Foreverlarrup
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The four of them fall nicely into their own sterotypes, but then Harry moves next door.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Slotting Puzzles

Niall is the first one to move into the Fernbeen complex. He only has one room that connects to a tiny bathroom and a kitchenette, but he's single and doesn't need a lot of space; he spends most of his time rushing around from his university to his job at the local bookstore, which really is a pity because all he ever wants to do is laze about on his bed and maybe strum out a few tunes on his guitar.

 

Liam and Louis are next to move in. The second they move in, they make it clear to all their neighbors that they're a couple by taking more time snogging each other in the stairway then pushing their boxes up. Niall waits till they're not kissing to introduce himself and asks if they need any help moving into their apartment.

 

Liam looks a bit wary, but Louis eagerly takes him up on his offer, and Niall helps them settle into town, telling them what restaurants to avoid and which stores have the best discounts. Liam is quiet but nice, and also quirky; he actually scribbles down a couple notes on what Niall tells them (“Just the store names, Louis. You know that we'll never remember them otherwise.”) Louis is funny and loud, but Niall appreciates the sound, because he was getting lonely in his tiny apartment.

 

(But then he hears Liam and Louis noisily fuck through the thin walls, and he could have lived his whole life without knowing the way they talked dirty in bed.)

\------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Despite how they sometimes wake Niall up when their headboards bang too hard on the walls, Niall does enjoy having Louis and Liam for neighbors. When he wants to borrow laundry soap, he doesn't have to ask creepy Mrs. Alister anymore, because Liam always has extra to lend. (Liam has extra everything, soap, scrap paper, tissues. He's weird that way) and whenever Niall's feeling upset, he knows that he can go next door and Louis would make him laugh.

 

And Niall likes that he's there to keep Liam company when Louis is late at work, and how Louis sometimes comes over to play video games with Niall and how he always brings something for Niall to eat.

 

He's often at their tiny apartment, kicking back and drinking beer with Louis, Liam tutting around in the background, pouring over his exam papers, occasionally lifting his head to make a wry comment about this or that. 

 

And as sappy as it sounds, this starts to become home for Niall.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Soon after Liam and Louis moved in (Lilo, Louis has gleefully dubbed them, but Liam rejects the meshing of their names because they're not some celebrity couple, dammit), Zayn moves in across from them. He's very fit and there's always a blur of girls and guys coming in and out of his apartment, which earns him a lot of disapproving looks from the older tenants in their building. He acts a bit like a chav and his hair seems to defy gravity, but he's nice in a quiet sort of way, and they all quickly warm up to him. He fits in smoothly with the three of them, being able to break the awkward after another bout of Louis and Liam's bickering with a small joke, and is thoughtful enough to sometimes bring Niall a extra pizza from his day job at the restaurant. He balances out Louis's crazy, Niall's energy, and Liam's sensibilities, which is good, because sometimes they're all too much and need someone to keep them grounded. 

 

(But sometimes Niall would catch Zayn staring too long at Liam, and he prays that no one else would catch on).

 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“There's going to be a new tenant,” Liam idly says one day, bowl of Chinese take out lying cold in front of him, eyes skimming a sheet of paper tucked in his fingers.

 

“How do you know?” Zayn looks up from the TV, then groans. “Why do you have to read that?”

 

“Read what?” Niall asks, tearing his gaze away from the footballers on the telly, then promptly laughs when he sees the yellow paper in Liam's hand. “You actually read that?”

 

“The Neighborhood Gazelle can make some very good points,” Liam says primly, folding it up and setting it beside him. The Neighborhood Gazelle was a newsletter that Mrs. Alister wrote up each week and slipped under everyone's door. In it, she would complain about tenants and how the landlord never fixes her leaky toilet. Supposedly people would submit their complaints, but Niall suspects that the majority of the newsletter are her own woes.

 

Louis chuckles lowly, eyes still trained on the television. “Baby, she's full of crap,” He flicks his eyes up to his boyfriend, who scowls. “Remember when she wrote that we were exhibitionists?”

 

Liam's cheeks flush and he turns away from them, gathering up paper cartons. “Your hand wasn't even down my pants, not really,” He mumbles, tossing fried rice and dumplings into the trash can.

 

Zayn scoffs and looks down at his hands.

 

“So who's the new tenant?” Niall asks quickly, resisting the urge to jab his elbow into Zayn's ribs.

 

Liam frowns, flipping on the tap. “I think his name is Henry. I'm not too sure, I wasn't reading that carefully.” He squeezes dish soap onto a towel and picks up a plate from the sink.

 

The room suddenly goes black and there's a collective moan from all four boys. 

 

“Not again,” Zayn groans. The electricity was constantly shutting on and off at the most inconvenient times (it was a constant complaint in the Neighborhood Gazelle). 

 

Niall looks to Louis, wondering what they were going to do to pass the time, but Louis's already bounding off the couch and into the kitchen, wrapping his arms around Liam's waist, tucking his head into the crook between his boyfriend's neck and shoulder. “You know what we can do?” Louis says, low and dirty, and Niall winces. He really needed to learn how to whisper. 

 

“Louis, not now-” Liam says, turning off the tap and effectively shutting off the dying stream of water. “I have to put these in the dishwasher for later.” But he leans into Louis's soft kisses, eyes fluttering shut.

 

Zayn shifts uncomfortably next to Niall and stands up. “Looks like we should go.” 

 

Niall nods and gets off the couch, stretching a bit. “We're going now,” He calls out, but then he hears a gasp, high and breathy, and decides that he doesn't need to hear their response.

 

“Sorry about that,” He says to Zayn when they're both out the apartment. 

 

Zayn shrugs, a light pink spreading over his cheeks. “Why apologize? There's no problem.” He zips his jacket up higher and unlocks his door with more vigor then necessary. 

 

Niall's lips twists sympathetically.

 

\------------------------------------------------------

 

It's Harry, not Henry that moves in, they find out. The first thing Niall notices about him is his crazy head of curls and the way his smile seems too wide, but he seems like a friendly enough bloke. The four of them help him unpack, and they tease him for his silly little knickknacks and the photos of his (incredibly hot) mother, but Harry takes it all in stride, smiling and laughing along with them. 

 

They invite him in for tea and tell him all the gossip about the complex, from how Mrs. Alister is always banging her cane against Louis and Liam's door when they get too loud, to the way the hot girl downstairs won't let Zayn sleep with her. 

 

“Seriously, man,” Zayn says, fingers squeezing the edge of his store bought sponge cake. “She's not into it at all.” He laughs and gives Harry a friendly pat on the shoulder. “Maybe you should try, huh?” 

 

Harry smiles absently and sips at his teacup, then sets it down. “I'm actually gay.”

 

“Eh, we all are,” Louis tells him flippantly, waving a hand.

 

Niall sputters. “Just because I don't have a girlfriend doesn't mean that I'm gay,” he says, tilting up his chin and scowling. 

 

“Then why don't we ever see you with any girls?” Zayn smirks as if he made a valid point. (And Niall doesn't even know why he doesn't deny the whole gay thing, since he was just talking about how he wanted to sleep with the girl downstairs).

 

“I'm not sluts like you,” Niall tells them haughtily. “I like to actually know the person before I sleep with them.”

 

Harry smiles up at Niall, small and quiet, and Niall ignores Liam and Louis's protests that they were in a monogamous relationship for several years, thank you very much, and smiles back.

 

\--------------------------------------------------

Harry slots neatly into their little group of friends. He's sweet enough for Liam to like him, silly enough for Niall, quiet enough for Zayn. 

 

Pretty enough for Louis.

 

And Harry starts to pop up more and more in Niall's life. Niall would find him at Liam and Louis's kitchen some mornings, laughingly backing away from Louis's pinching fingers, a greasy spatula almost slipping from his fingers, or sitting at the table, textbooks and papers spread out before him, helping Liam memorize different laws and loopholes. And Niall would sometimes see Harry and Zayn stumbling drunk back into the complex, arms slung over each other and feet tripping, singing nonsense words. 

 

And it's silly, but Niall feels fond when he sees his friends together. He feels like they're all fitting together, like puzzles in a game, and he used to imagine that maybe, maybe this could be the family he never had- Liam and Louis are like parents, Zayn the uncle, and Niall's the one they all fuss over. And Harry, well. Niall hasn't quite figured out where Harry belongs in their tiny family yet.

 

(It unsettles him more then it should.)


End file.
